Amazing stories about cats: Strange but true tales from the archives of the Kalamazoo Gazette

View full sizeThis is the latest installment of a series, with more to come each month in Generations magazine.

By Steve Ellis

I am fascinated with quirky old stories,
and in my years of working at the Kalamazoo Gazette I have accumulated
more than 500 of these strange but true stories from the Gazette
archives. This is the latest installment of a series, with more to come
each month in Generations magazine.

This month: Cat tales.

Stumbling over cat is fatal to local manMay 1, 1935Bernard Smith, 60, of Woodland in Barry County, suffered fatal injuries when he tripped over a pet cat in his garage. Smith thought his injuries were trivial, but his condition worsened a few hours later, and an emergency operation failed to save his life.

Guilty of stabbing fish-stealing catJune 17, 1934Enoch Zimmer, 73, was found guilty by a jury Saturday of stabbing to death a cat which had been stealing goldfish. A recommendation was made that no penalty be imposed. Zimmer stabbed the cat with a pen knife after it bit and scratched him. Lawrence Taylor, a local businessman and owner of the cat, had Zimmer arrested.

Noisy cats bring policeAug. 4, 1935Police armed with riot guns early Saturday morning invaded the neighborhood of the 1400 block of Clinton Avenue searching for cats. While residents in that block are not cat haters, they do object to having their sleep disturbed continuously by the loud cats. Police were asked to rid the neighborhood of the unwelcome night visitors. The cat raid was unsuccessful, as the vocal animals apparently saw the bluecoats before the officers saw them.

State declares open season on catsMay 31, 1935Michigan has declared an open season on cats — be they angora, wild or alley cats. Gov. Frank Fitzgerald signed a measure amending the general hunting laws to include felines in the predatory class. Cats may be killed year-round. The only protections afforded the felines are local ordinances prohibiting the use of firearms within city limits. Cat owners are warned to keep their cats out of the woods.